New Bon Jovi Album: This House Is Not For Sale (2016)

True. But even so, they are far from the rock. You look to Foo Fighters for example, they also touch things pop, rock, hard rock and grunge, which feels like a real rock band, like Bon Jovi in the nineties, you know. Best of You or The Pretender are songs that Bon Jovi could have done in the nineties or even early 2000, now Jon does not bother to do energetic things with powerfull guitars and big hooks. The music of recent years does not feel so good, it's not great jovi music, and no feel big.


I would be happy with a new direction, something with more guitars, they have always done some good songs, do not misunderstand me. Why in an album must have many pop songs and ballads, and only 2 rock songs?

I want an album starts with 3 songs that feels rocking, then a part-time well done, and come back with something strong, then drop a couple of songs with risky structure and some powerful ballad ..... and the final stretch of the album with energic songs and rock n roll.

They still can do something as Just Older, Neurotica, Have a Nice Day, Undivided, Dirty Little Secret, I'm Your Man, I Could Make A Living Out Of Lovin 'You ..... come on!, no more boring songs like What About Now or We All Fall Down.

I'm not asking SWW part II. Just a real rock album.

Truth. I would even call the first two albums pop/rock. I think the only reason they got lumped into the "metal" category was the way they looked/dressed at the time.

Well, I think guitars and singing Jon also had something to do with it. Tokyo Road, Burning for Love and Shot to the heart, guitars sounds high in the mix, solos very effective and very sharp-edged. Jon's voice in some songs were very strong, the energy of the 80s.

Shame that Bon Jovi can not do this kind of "pop/rock".

In my book the guitars are not the biggest problem for Bon Jovi to make a powerful record nowadays, even tough I would love some cool riffs and guitar figures.
It's so much more about Jon not being able to deliver vocal performances like he used to. He doesn't have the range anymore, the Amen chorus is really the highest they can make Jon sing these days on a record and not sounding to doctored. I don't think he has gone higher than a G4 since the Have a Nice Day album and you kind of needs to be singing in the higher registers if you want to make powerful arena rock songs like Bon Jovi tends to go for.

Songs like What About Now, Because We Can, We Weren't Born To Follow, What Do You Got and so on are sung so "low", even though I'm not sure that's the right way to describe it. If those songs were made during the 80s/90s they could have been fantastic songs with Jons range back then. The above mentioned songs never really kicks off, the melodys are great but they're losing its potential when sung in such a safe vocal register. Imagine having We Weren't Born To Follow in like C#m or Cm isntead of G#m, it would have been so much more energetic. I get why Jon is playing it safe as he physically can't sing like that anymore, and that's pretty sad. Bon Jovi has always been about the vocals and with such a limited singer that Jon has been for a while it's hard to write those arena songs. I'm not saying you can't, but there's a lot of truth in my statement.

Take a song like Lie To Me, it's a pretty slow song but when the second chorus kicks in and Jon goes for the higher octave it really bears the song on its own. A mid tempo song like Lie To Me has so much more energy then the modern "rock" Bon Jovi songs. Have a Nice Day, Undivided, It's My Life, I Am and so on are all modern songs where he actually goes for a more demanding vocal and those songs are among the most beloved songs done in the 2000s. Those have that powerufl energetic feel in the choruses. Imaging having Have a Nice Day in C#m in Am instead, it would lose so much power.

Maybe I'm a little indistinct, but I think you all can agree with me. Don't get me wrong, I love most of the post-2000 material and think What About Now has some great songwriting, but there's no use to think that Jon with his extremely limited range these days will ever deliver arena rock choruses to us again. He simply can't. Mid tempo rockers ala What About Now, Thorn In My Side, Whole Lot of Leavin etc. is what we can excpect, and for me, I'm fine with that. The old material is still there for us to enjoy.

I agree. But I do not mean that Jon has sing high all songs.

We Don't Run song, have a difficult choir, I can understand that Jon does not want to do many songs like We Don't Run or Have a Nice Day in a register. But come on, he can do other things on record as Just Older, I'm Your Man, add some rock to the album concept. Jon is not obliged to sing all songs of the album in a live show. If That's What It Takes and Hearts Breaking Even never played live.

Some songs of the last few albums have never played, that's the key, make an album with rock songs, the most vocally demanding, do not play live, and the songs more flexible, adjust for live.

If Jon will not sing We All Fall Down or others like Fast Cars, Learn To Love... why he have to be forced to sing all rocker songs? He only play some song in puntual moment. Others songs will not be played live, but we continue to have for eternity a record that will endure over time. Songs like What About Now or One Step Closer lead to nothing, in the end Jon has to replace these by the hits.

Imagine a rock album

1 Rock Song (designed to open live concerts)
2 Rock Song (new single)
3 Rock Song (As Just Older or Last Man Standing) *in puntual shows
4 Slow Rock Song (I Am, Nothing, Im With You) * in puntual shows
5 Strong Rock (heavier Riff) *No play in live shows
6 introspective song (with different structures) *No play in live shows
7 introspective song (something atmospheric) *in puntual shows
8 Power Ballad (something kind Seven Years Gone, Jon could do something similar) *puntual shows
9 pop song (something as Sunday Morning, it's ok)
10 Pop/Rock (something feels good as Love the Only Rule but with guitars) *No play in live shows
11 Rock n Roll song (As Im Your Man, Gimmie Some, ....)
12 Rock song (Neurotica, Bounce, One wild Night ...) *No play in live shows


This type of albums is possible. Some songs do not play live, others only in puntual moment, and the easiest would be included in a standard set list of tour.

Are we playing a game of "let's see how far people can make it before they stop reading"???

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They're not metal, but they're obviously rock - listen to the guitar work on these albums!

Rolo does these kind of speculated track- and setlists so often that I think he just has too much free time on his hands

But they're obviously POP rock. Pick almost any track and it would have been very radio friendly like a Van Halen tune or their other contemporaries. Bon Jovi's sound and look was meant to be on the radio and television.

Van Halen is very much rock, especially classic VH. Pop Rock is a non-term for me, it just means that some rock music became mainstream popular, infused by pop elements maybe. Metallica did that with the Metallica Album, and especially Load and Reload, and even Megadeth chased a commercial sound in the 90s. AC/DC did it with Back in Black. Whitesnake did the same with Whitesnake (1987). More recently, bands like Edguy did it with Rocket Ride. None of them are pop rock.

It's a term that has no deep meaning. Perhaps some confuse feel good or good time music as "pop".

Maybe, I could say someone like Chesney Hawke was like a true pop-rock artist. Putting on a band setting, holding a guitar, but singing a flat-out pop song.

Bon Jovi were not metal, but I agree with Alphavictim, they were most certainly rock. Sambora and the band were not playing pop music, and Jon was not singing with a pop voice. They still aren't pop to be fair, just the style changed.